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ROCHESTER, N.Y. - It didn't turn out to be a perfect ending for Andrew Brackman in his first start at Triple A, but the Yankees will take the result.

Justin Maxwell tripled in a pair of runs in the top of the seventh inning, then threw a runner out at the plate to end the bottom of the inning, helping the Yankees rally past Rochester, 5-3, on Tuesday night at Frontier Field.

The victory brings the Yanks back to town for tonight's home opener with Buffalo on a three-game winning streak.

It didn't look promising early as Brackman was touched for a pair of runs in the first inning.

Ben Revere, who had three hits - two of which didn't make it to the skin of the infield - reached and stole second. Jeff Bailey singled to left to make it 1-0, then took second when the throw got away from catcher Jesus Montero.

Rene Tosoni followed with an RBI single to right and the Red Wings were off and running.

Brandon Roberts singled to start the Rochester second, then stole second and third before scoring on Trevor Plouffe's fly ball to center.

From that point, Brackman was strong, retiring the next eight hitters he faced until running into trouble in the fifth.

Revere's broken-bat infield single, Ramiro Pena's error at short and a walk loaded the bases with no outs. But third baseman Brandon Laird backhanded Bailey's chopper to third and nailed the speedy Revere at the plate, and Brackman induced a rally-killing double play to work out of the jam unscathed.

In the meantime, the Yankees began chipping away, thanks to Jorge Vazquez, who hits against Rochester like he's paid by the RBI.

The first of Montero's three hits - two were doubles - was a two-bagger that he sliced down the right-field line, moving Chris Dickerson to third. Then Vazquez pounded the second of his four singles to center, driving in two runs and giving Vazquez 11 RBIs in the four-game series.

Montero and Vazquez set up a big inning in the fifth with a double and a single, but reliever Jim Hoey got a fly out and two strikeouts. Unfortunately, before fanning Maxwell, he fired a 1-2 pitch in the dirt, allowing Montero to score the tying run on the wild pitch.

With two on and two out in the top of the seventh, the Yankees finished their comeback. Losing pitcher Kyle Waldrop (0-2) got a pitch out over the plate and Maxwell sent a booming shot over the head of Revere, who was playing shallow in center.

It easily scored Vazquez and Jordan Parraz, who drew a walk to keep the inning alive after falling into an 0-2 hole.

Maxwell helped winning pitcher Lance Pendleton (1-1) get out of a mess in the bottom of the inning. Pendleton, who allowed one hit and struck out four in three innings, hit Roberts and Revere flared a single to center. After a strikeout and a wild pitch, Brian Dinkelman skied a fly to medium left field, where Maxwell grabbed it and fired a one-hop strike to Montero to nip Roberts with a perfect throw.

Rochester didn't go quietly, though. Back-to-back singles from Chase Lambin and pinch hitter Dustin Martin made things dicey for closer Kevin Whelan, who got the next three hitters to earn his second save.

Contact the writer: sports@timesshamrock.com

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